Daughter of Llathe: A Tale of the Two Rings by Ben Cassidy
screaming in pain.
Nali stared in disbelief. The Fallen had taken two shard rifle hits to the torso, and one to the arm. Not even a fleshtearer could take that and keep moving. Something was wrong. They were hitting it, but they weren’t killing it—
Zolne rushed forward and slammed into the creature as it tried to rise. The momentum sent them both tumbling across the chamber’s slick floor.
The Fallen was on its feet in a heartbeat. Zolne’s short sword protruded from its side. Glancing down at the weapon in disgust, the Fallen grabbed the sword by the handle and wrenched it out, then tossed the blade away.
Zolne staggered to her feet, spitting green blood out of her mouth. “Just die already,” she gasped. She pulled a long combat dagger from her belt and ran at the Fallen.
The hideous creature knocked the blade out of Zolne’s hand almost effortlessly, then grabbed the Gar by the throat.
Nali dropped the spent rifle and reached for the shard pistol tucked into her crossbelt.
Zolne choked, clutching the creature’s bony white arm with both hands as she struggled to get free. Her feet kicked into empty space as she was slowly lifted off the ground.
Nali snapped the charging bolt back on the pistol and the weapon’s capacitor whined softly. She leveled it at the Fallen’s back.
The Fallen glanced back at her, then tossed Zolne to one side as if the Gar had been a small child.
Zolne landed heavily. Her blue helmet came loose and rolled across the floor.
Nali kept the shard pistol aimed at the Fallen.
And then it hit her.
They couldn’t kill this Fallen. Not by shooting the creature, or stabbing it. There was only one way to destroy it.
Nali swung the gun around and pointed it directly at the dark heart lying on the altar.
The Fallen stopped mid-step. Its red eyes stared at Nali with pure hatred.
Nali tried to pull the trigger.
Nothing happened. Her finger hadn’t moved.
The Fallen’s red eyes blazed into her mind, down into her very soul. Nali tried to move her arms, but her body would not respond. She felt heavy and numb. Sudden fatigue swept through her like a Talreenian wave. She staggered back from the altar, her legs losing all their strength. Purple flecks sparkled at the edge of her vision and danced crazily before her eyes. There was a harsh whispering in her head, words from a long forgotten tongue that burned into her brain.
The pistol dropped from her hand. Nali felt her foot strike the edge of the lowest step behind her, and she toppled backwards. She lay where she fell, unable to rise.
The Fallen stepped up and over the altar, its eyes staring steadily at Nali.
Obscene words screamed in Nali’s head, making her want to retch. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker, as second by second every ounce of strength was drained from her body. Her life was being torn from her, piece by piece. In one heartbeat she understood how the Fallen had killed so many of the villagers with no visible injuries.
The chanting in her mind rose to a thunderous roar. Nali felt her eyes begin to close. All the power was drained from her limbs.
The Fallen was only feet away. It bared its teeth and snarled at the helpless prey before it.
Just before her eyes closed, Nali saw Leela lift herself up from the floor, a shard pistol in her hand. With a grunt of effort the Gar’Mel pushed the muzzle of the weapon towards the back of the Fallen’s head and fired.
Half of the creature’s head disintegrated with the whistling discharge of the weapon. The body of the Fallen crashed to the ground.
Nali no longer cared. The ground felt good, so soft and comfortable. She only wanted to sleep, just to sleep—
A hand slapped hard against her left cheek. Nali’s eyes flew open and she saw Leela crouched over her.
“Stay with me, Wayfinder,” Leela ordered. She steadied herself against a step with one hand. Her red skin looked paler than usual.
Nali’s whole body tingled. She felt dull and heavy. She tried to speak, but her mouth would barely move. “Heart…” she murmured. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Leela cocked her head and looked down at Nali in confusion.
Behind the Gar’Mel, the Fallen rose to its feet.
Leela stood and spun around. She drew her sword in one swift movement.
Nali stared in horror. The Fallen’s head was half-gone, the edges scarred black by the heat of the shard pistol blast. As she watched the creature’s skull began to slowly re-form, the stretched skin and hair stitching back together.
“High Father shield me,” Leela prayed under her breath. She swayed slightly, and braced her feet to steady herself.
“The…heart…” Nali gasped. She tried to rise, but fell back onto one elbow. “Destroy…the heart.”
Leela stepped between Nali and the regenerating Fallen. “You’re telling me this now?”
Nali groaned, pushing her weakened body up to a crawling position. “Didn’t know.”
The Fallen turned to face Leela. The inside of its skull was still exposed. There was no brain inside, no living tissue of any kind.
Leela glanced at the heart lying on the altar, then at Nali’s pistol where it lay on the floor. “Can you get to the gun?”
Nali started to climb to her feet. The room span before her eyes. “I don’t—”
The Fallen leapt towards Leela with a shriek.
Leela stepped quickly to one side. She dodged the swinging claws, then swiped with her sword across the Fallen’s back.
The creature stumbled, off balance for a moment, then whirled back around. It lashed out again at the Gar’Mel.
Leela blocked the scything claws with her blade, then slashed her sword across the Fallen’s half-formed face.
The creature howled in pain and rage. The sound echoed through the obsidian chamber.
“Quickly, Nali!” Leela cried.
Nali lunged forward. The pistol was there, just ten feet away. She stretched out a hand for it. The strength gave out in her legs and she tumbled to the ground.
The pistol was still a few feet away.
The Fallen snapped its head back around towards Nali.
Leela stepped forward and swept her sword towards the creature. The blade tore into its side.
The Fallen shrieked and spun back to face the Gar’Mel.
Nali crawled forward and closed her hand around the grip of the shard pistol.
Leela lifted the sword to strike again, but the Fallen lashed forward in a blur of motion.
Its clawed hand caught the Gar’Mel across the chest and tore open her steel breastplate like wet paper.
Leela flew backwards and slammed hard against the obsidian altar, then crumpled to the ground
Nali lifted the pistol. It wavered uncertainly in her hand and felt immensely heavy.
The Fallen turned towards her. Its head was almost completely healed now. It took a step towards Nali.
A red burst of shard fire tore across the room and punched into the Fallen’s chest. The creature lurched backwards and crashed into the steps of the chamber.
Confused, Nali glanced over her shoulder.
Illa, one of the hunters who had been posted outside, stood at the entrance to the chamber with a smoking shard rifle in her hands. She leaned on one good leg. The other was wet with blood.
The Fallen climbed back to its feet and snarled.
Nali grabbed the pistol in both hands, trying her best to straighten the weapon for a shot.
She would only get one attempt.
The Fallen crouched and prepared to spring.
Nali pulled the trigger. The pistol barked and jumped in her hands.
The shard blast struck the dark heart. The object glowed for a second, then burst into a thousand pieces with an ear-tingling crack.
A wave of cold swept out from the altar. Ice formed on the obsidian directly around where the heart had lain, and frost coated the altar itself. The temperature dropped so
low that for a second Nali could see her breath.
The Fallen evaporated with a soft sigh and swirled into a column of silver dust that spilled over the black floor.
In the space of a breath, the nightmare creature was gone.
Nali climbed painfully to her feet. She tried to move forward towards Leela’s fallen form, but had to stop half-way to steady herself against the altar.
“You…killed it.” Zolne came up to the altar, her words croaking like a swamp frog. She rubbed her injured throat, bruised by the Fallen’s grip.
“Check on Sayla and Ereta,” Nali ordered. She moved forward again, and knelt down beside Leela.
Illa limped up. “I am sorry I didn’t get here sooner, Wayfinder. Meera is still outside. She’s unconscious, but not badly injured.” The hunter leaned on the butt of her rifle, using it like a crutch. “Holna is dead.”
Nali barely heard. She rolled Leela over onto her back.
The Gar’Mel was bleeding badly from the rents in her armor, and the obsidian floor underneath her was slick with her blood. Her eyes were closed.
“We need to get her out of here,” Nali said. She nodded to where the pack lay by the altar. “I saw the Gar’Mel put some merima patches in there. Get one, hurry.”
Illa glanced at Leela. For a moment the hunter looked as if she would speak, but didn’t. She turned and opened the pack by the altar.
“Sayla and Ereta are both dead,” Zolne said as she approached. She coughed from the effort of speaking, then leaned against the altar and massaged her swollen throat.
“We’ll have to make a litter to get the Gar’Mel back to the village,” said Nali. She undid the side straps of Leela’s breastplate, then gently peeled the torn armor away from the Gar’Mel’s chest. The woman’s side was covered up and down
Nali stared in disbelief. The Fallen had taken two shard rifle hits to the torso, and one to the arm. Not even a fleshtearer could take that and keep moving. Something was wrong. They were hitting it, but they weren’t killing it—
Zolne rushed forward and slammed into the creature as it tried to rise. The momentum sent them both tumbling across the chamber’s slick floor.
The Fallen was on its feet in a heartbeat. Zolne’s short sword protruded from its side. Glancing down at the weapon in disgust, the Fallen grabbed the sword by the handle and wrenched it out, then tossed the blade away.
Zolne staggered to her feet, spitting green blood out of her mouth. “Just die already,” she gasped. She pulled a long combat dagger from her belt and ran at the Fallen.
The hideous creature knocked the blade out of Zolne’s hand almost effortlessly, then grabbed the Gar by the throat.
Nali dropped the spent rifle and reached for the shard pistol tucked into her crossbelt.
Zolne choked, clutching the creature’s bony white arm with both hands as she struggled to get free. Her feet kicked into empty space as she was slowly lifted off the ground.
Nali snapped the charging bolt back on the pistol and the weapon’s capacitor whined softly. She leveled it at the Fallen’s back.
The Fallen glanced back at her, then tossed Zolne to one side as if the Gar had been a small child.
Zolne landed heavily. Her blue helmet came loose and rolled across the floor.
Nali kept the shard pistol aimed at the Fallen.
And then it hit her.
They couldn’t kill this Fallen. Not by shooting the creature, or stabbing it. There was only one way to destroy it.
Nali swung the gun around and pointed it directly at the dark heart lying on the altar.
The Fallen stopped mid-step. Its red eyes stared at Nali with pure hatred.
Nali tried to pull the trigger.
Nothing happened. Her finger hadn’t moved.
The Fallen’s red eyes blazed into her mind, down into her very soul. Nali tried to move her arms, but her body would not respond. She felt heavy and numb. Sudden fatigue swept through her like a Talreenian wave. She staggered back from the altar, her legs losing all their strength. Purple flecks sparkled at the edge of her vision and danced crazily before her eyes. There was a harsh whispering in her head, words from a long forgotten tongue that burned into her brain.
The pistol dropped from her hand. Nali felt her foot strike the edge of the lowest step behind her, and she toppled backwards. She lay where she fell, unable to rise.
The Fallen stepped up and over the altar, its eyes staring steadily at Nali.
Obscene words screamed in Nali’s head, making her want to retch. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker, as second by second every ounce of strength was drained from her body. Her life was being torn from her, piece by piece. In one heartbeat she understood how the Fallen had killed so many of the villagers with no visible injuries.
The chanting in her mind rose to a thunderous roar. Nali felt her eyes begin to close. All the power was drained from her limbs.
The Fallen was only feet away. It bared its teeth and snarled at the helpless prey before it.
Just before her eyes closed, Nali saw Leela lift herself up from the floor, a shard pistol in her hand. With a grunt of effort the Gar’Mel pushed the muzzle of the weapon towards the back of the Fallen’s head and fired.
Half of the creature’s head disintegrated with the whistling discharge of the weapon. The body of the Fallen crashed to the ground.
Nali no longer cared. The ground felt good, so soft and comfortable. She only wanted to sleep, just to sleep—
A hand slapped hard against her left cheek. Nali’s eyes flew open and she saw Leela crouched over her.
“Stay with me, Wayfinder,” Leela ordered. She steadied herself against a step with one hand. Her red skin looked paler than usual.
Nali’s whole body tingled. She felt dull and heavy. She tried to speak, but her mouth would barely move. “Heart…” she murmured. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Leela cocked her head and looked down at Nali in confusion.
Behind the Gar’Mel, the Fallen rose to its feet.
Leela stood and spun around. She drew her sword in one swift movement.
Nali stared in horror. The Fallen’s head was half-gone, the edges scarred black by the heat of the shard pistol blast. As she watched the creature’s skull began to slowly re-form, the stretched skin and hair stitching back together.
“High Father shield me,” Leela prayed under her breath. She swayed slightly, and braced her feet to steady herself.
“The…heart…” Nali gasped. She tried to rise, but fell back onto one elbow. “Destroy…the heart.”
Leela stepped between Nali and the regenerating Fallen. “You’re telling me this now?”
Nali groaned, pushing her weakened body up to a crawling position. “Didn’t know.”
The Fallen turned to face Leela. The inside of its skull was still exposed. There was no brain inside, no living tissue of any kind.
Leela glanced at the heart lying on the altar, then at Nali’s pistol where it lay on the floor. “Can you get to the gun?”
Nali started to climb to her feet. The room span before her eyes. “I don’t—”
The Fallen leapt towards Leela with a shriek.
Leela stepped quickly to one side. She dodged the swinging claws, then swiped with her sword across the Fallen’s back.
The creature stumbled, off balance for a moment, then whirled back around. It lashed out again at the Gar’Mel.
Leela blocked the scything claws with her blade, then slashed her sword across the Fallen’s half-formed face.
The creature howled in pain and rage. The sound echoed through the obsidian chamber.
“Quickly, Nali!” Leela cried.
Nali lunged forward. The pistol was there, just ten feet away. She stretched out a hand for it. The strength gave out in her legs and she tumbled to the ground.
The pistol was still a few feet away.
The Fallen snapped its head back around towards Nali.
Leela stepped forward and swept her sword towards the creature. The blade tore into its side.
The Fallen shrieked and spun back to face the Gar’Mel.
Nali crawled forward and closed her hand around the grip of the shard pistol.
Leela lifted the sword to strike again, but the Fallen lashed forward in a blur of motion.
Its clawed hand caught the Gar’Mel across the chest and tore open her steel breastplate like wet paper.
Leela flew backwards and slammed hard against the obsidian altar, then crumpled to the ground
Nali lifted the pistol. It wavered uncertainly in her hand and felt immensely heavy.
The Fallen turned towards her. Its head was almost completely healed now. It took a step towards Nali.
A red burst of shard fire tore across the room and punched into the Fallen’s chest. The creature lurched backwards and crashed into the steps of the chamber.
Confused, Nali glanced over her shoulder.
Illa, one of the hunters who had been posted outside, stood at the entrance to the chamber with a smoking shard rifle in her hands. She leaned on one good leg. The other was wet with blood.
The Fallen climbed back to its feet and snarled.
Nali grabbed the pistol in both hands, trying her best to straighten the weapon for a shot.
She would only get one attempt.
The Fallen crouched and prepared to spring.
Nali pulled the trigger. The pistol barked and jumped in her hands.
The shard blast struck the dark heart. The object glowed for a second, then burst into a thousand pieces with an ear-tingling crack.
A wave of cold swept out from the altar. Ice formed on the obsidian directly around where the heart had lain, and frost coated the altar itself. The temperature dropped so
The Fallen evaporated with a soft sigh and swirled into a column of silver dust that spilled over the black floor.
In the space of a breath, the nightmare creature was gone.
Nali climbed painfully to her feet. She tried to move forward towards Leela’s fallen form, but had to stop half-way to steady herself against the altar.
“You…killed it.” Zolne came up to the altar, her words croaking like a swamp frog. She rubbed her injured throat, bruised by the Fallen’s grip.
“Check on Sayla and Ereta,” Nali ordered. She moved forward again, and knelt down beside Leela.
Illa limped up. “I am sorry I didn’t get here sooner, Wayfinder. Meera is still outside. She’s unconscious, but not badly injured.” The hunter leaned on the butt of her rifle, using it like a crutch. “Holna is dead.”
Nali barely heard. She rolled Leela over onto her back.
The Gar’Mel was bleeding badly from the rents in her armor, and the obsidian floor underneath her was slick with her blood. Her eyes were closed.
“We need to get her out of here,” Nali said. She nodded to where the pack lay by the altar. “I saw the Gar’Mel put some merima patches in there. Get one, hurry.”
Illa glanced at Leela. For a moment the hunter looked as if she would speak, but didn’t. She turned and opened the pack by the altar.
“Sayla and Ereta are both dead,” Zolne said as she approached. She coughed from the effort of speaking, then leaned against the altar and massaged her swollen throat.
“We’ll have to make a litter to get the Gar’Mel back to the village,” said Nali. She undid the side straps of Leela’s breastplate, then gently peeled the torn armor away from the Gar’Mel’s chest. The woman’s side was covered up and down